The present invention relates to a carrier device such as a conveyor pocket for a hanging conveyor system, in particular for transporting conveyed articles hanging on hangers, having a pawl which is pivoted in a base body, each pawl being intended to support one hanger by its hook-shaped head region (hook), the pawl having an extension protruding from the base body in order to swing the pawl and thus open the conveyor pocket. The invention furthermore relates to a method of introducing a hanger having a hook-shaped head region, and particularly a clothes hanger, into a conveyor pocket within an endlessly rotating hanging conveyor.
A conveyor pocket of this type is disclosed in EP-A 0 307 045, incorporated by reference herein. That conveyor pocket is designed, in particular, for conveying articles of clothing hanging on clothes hangers. During transportation, the hanger hook rests on the pawl. In order to prevent the hook from falling out of the conveyor pocket, the pocket can be closed by a tongue. This tongue is swingable in the direction opposite the direction of transport, so that the hanger hook can be introduced from the front into the receiving region of the conveyor pocket by swinging the closure pawl out of the way. The pawl is blocked in the direction of transport so that the hanger or hanger hook cannot fall out of the conveyor pocket during transport. In removing the hanger from the conveyor pocket, the pawl on which the hanger hook rests during transport is swung away in the direction opposite to the direction of transport, the hanger hook being gripped by the arm of the base body of the conveyor pocket and then sliding out of the conveyor pocket onto a removal bar which is arranged laterally alongside the conveyor line. In order to prevent the pawl from opening during transport by the weight of the hook resting on it, a closure spring is provided in the base body, the spring holding the pawl in its closed position.
There is the problem here that the hanger is imparted a negative acceleration upon the stripping off in the conveyor pocket. In order for it to reliably emerge from the delivery region, the slide bar must accordingly have a correspondingly large slope, which cannot always be easily realized due to considerations of space. Furthermore, the closure spring must be designed for the maximum load to be transported. Correspondingly high opening forces are necessary. If the force of the spring decreases during the course of operation, then, in particular, heavy articles of clothing can no longer be reliably conveyed. Due to the large number of structural parts, the known conveyor pocket is rather complicated in construction. Automatic loading of the conveyor pocket is not possible or is possible only with extremely complicated runs.